Dear Participants: 

Our school is named Herbert A. Ammons Middle School and it is located in Miami, Florida. There are 6th, 7th and 8th graders in our school. Florida is called the "Sunshine State" obviously because of the many months of wonderful weather and sunshine here. We go to school from Mondays through Fridays and have 7 periods a day except on block days that are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. On Tuesdays we have periods 2, 4 and 6 and on Wednesdays we have periods 3, 5 and 7. Ammons Middle is the most technologically advanced middle school in all of Miami-Dade County. We have an Internet grade viewer were you can view grades over the Internet and a wireless school network. We also have about 5 digital cameras that can be used to help us complete and then show our projects and activities. Our day begins at 9:00 AM and ends at 3:40 PM. We have lots of after school sports here at Ammons. They include wrestling, volleyball, softball, golf, basketball, soccer, cross-country, tennis and track & field. We also have a number of clubs which include SECME (science), FEA, National Junior Honors Society, History Club, Math Club, Multicultural Club, Spanish Club, French Club, Art Club, Chess Club, Student Council, DFYIT and crime watch. Ammons Middle has over 1,000 students and over 30 staff members. Our school web page is located at http://ammons.dade.k12.fl.us. You can write to us by sending your e-mail to our science teacher, Mrs. Casal casalt@ammons.dade.k12.fl.us. 

The water site where we will be doing our testing is on the Miami River whose history dates back to about the early 1920's. Government agencies along the river employ about 100,000 people and it's boatyards collect about $80-$120 million dollars a year. The principal industry on the Miami River is shipping. Other important industries along the river include vessel and engine repair, warehousing and transportation. We also find tourist businesses along the river such as seafood restaurants and hotels. Recently an important archaeological site was found on the south bank of the mouth of the Miami River. This prehistoric site which appears to be approximately 2,000 years old is called the "Miami River Circle". Several local agencies have been working on a joint project to revitalize the river. Part of the plan called for dredging the river in an effort to clean up the pollution that has been contaminating this waterway for years. A second part of the project will build a river walk for the residents and surrounding businesses and will work on beautifying the surrounding area of this important landmark. We
are looking forward to starting the water quality tests on the most important river in all of Miami.